


Walking the Long Road

by ventiicedchai



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27628040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ventiicedchai/pseuds/ventiicedchai
Summary: When Harry is force fed a mysterious potion, he has two choices: Lose his magic, or figure out a way to make Draco Malfoy fall in love with him.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Pansy Parkinson, Neville Longbottom/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Walking the Long Road

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic and I'm honestly quite nervous to post it, but I'd love any feedback that people have. The fic title is from the song Death of a Bachelor by Panic! at the Disco. I hope you enjoy!

Harry Potter was used to the whispers that always surrounded him when he ventured into Diagon Alley. He was used to shaking the hands of people he didn’t know, plastering on smiles and doing his best to seem confident. He wasn’t particularly used to people trying to hex or poison him outside of work, which is why he was so surprised when Theodore Nott did just that on a dreary Thursday afternoon. Harry was in an alley in Muggle London, preparing to Apparate back to his flat, when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He tried to pull his wand out subtly, but the man he immediately recognized as Nott was faster and hit him with a Full Body-Bind Curse. He watched Nott wearily from the dirty pavement of the alley as the other man slowly approached him.

“All alone, are we Potter? Did your friends ditch you for Draco Malfoy?” Nott sneered. Harry wondered how he knew that Ron and Hermione had befriended Malfoy. He tried to open his mouth to ask, forgetting that the curse he was under kept it firmly shut. He could only watch in horror as Nott directed his wand at Harry’s mouth, forcing it open and then pulling a vial with a dark purple potion out of the Muggle suit he was wearing. He tipped the vial, pouring its contents into Harry’s mouth. Harry swallowed automatically, cursing himself silently and wondering why people couldn’t just leave him alone. When the potion vial was empty, Nott stashed it away and turned to leave.

“What the hell was that?” Harry asked. He found that whatever Nott had done to him allowed him to move his mouth while the rest of him remained completely frozen.

“It’s called a Venenum Caritate potion, Potter. I’d despair at your lack of knowledge on potions, but it’s one I created so I’ll forgive it this time.” Nott smirked down at him, looking extremely self satisfied. Harry desperately wanted to punch the smug look off his face, but his arms remained firmly in place at his sides no matter how hard he struggled. “It’s a slow acting poison of sorts, designed with a bit of Draco Malfoy’s DNA so unless he falls in love with you naturally I’m afraid you’ll slowly lose your magic until it’s gone entirely.”

“His- I’ll- How long have I got?” Harry asked, proud of himself for managing to keep his voice even. Magic was everything to him- it was what had gotten him away from the Dursleys and he didn’t know how to live without it.

“I’d say around half a year, if you’re lucky. I’m guessing you won’t be though. I work with Malfoy, you know, and he complains about you all the damn time.” Nott turned away as he was talking, and once he was finished he swiftly Apparated away. Harry would’ve been relieved that he was gone, except it meant he was trapped alone in the alley. He managed to cast a wandless Finite Incantatem and he sat up gingerly, trying to ignore the confused stares of any Muggles that walked by. As he tried to pull himself together in order to safely Apparate, fragments of his recent conversation swirled through his head. 

_Malfoy talks about me all the time...complaining, but still...I haven’t even seen him in months, what has he got to complain about? He must hate me even more than I hate him, and I need to make him fall in love with me? Ugh…_

_...Ron and Hermione aren’t ditching me! They’ve just been really busy...right? I wonder if they make time for Malfoy… This is stupid, I’ll ask them to hang out sometime this week and clear everything up… I should probably ask them to invite Malfoy too, since he’s a part of this mess… But there’s no way that will go well, is there? Just because we have mutual friends now doesn’t mean that we’re able to get along, or that he’ll be willing to help me...not that there’s anything he could really do, short of…_

Harry snorted as he tried to picture convincing Draco to fall in love with him, but his amusement quickly faded as he remembered that he might have no other choice. 

He firmly reminded himself that he was best friends with Hermione Granger, and there was no way they wouldn’t figure everything out. It was silly to worry until he had a reason to.

Harry stood up, swiftly brushed himself off while glancing around to make sure no Muggles were passing by, and Disapparated.

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

As soon as Harry arrived home he called Ron and Hermione on the Floo. To his surprise they were both free to have dinner, and although he was relieved he also felt a small pang of unease as he wondered if they’d been avoiding him. It was unlikely- Hermione was a Healer after all, and although Harry liked his job as Head Auror he often ended up at work for far longer than he would have liked. Ron had the most free time out of the group since he worked at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, but he was also in charge of cooking for the couple and he’d sometimes spend hours in the kitchen coming up with fun concoctions for Hermione (and Harry, if he was lucky) to try. They had all been surprised when Ron took it up as a hobby, but he had just shrugged and said that after being Molly Weasley’s child for a couple decades it felt like second nature.

“Er… it would probably be weird if Draco came, right?” Ron asked sheepishly. Hermione shot him a look which Harry knew meant that she thought Ron shouldn’t have asked. Bugger. It probably meant that they had cleared their schedules to spend time with Malfoy only to have Harry ask them instead. He winced at the thought, and Ron seemed to interpret that as an answer.

“Right, forget I asked. See you soon, mate!” 

Harry forced a grin and waved, but he felt more upset than was reasonable. He’d barely seen the couple in the past few weeks, and he couldn’t help but wonder how often Malfoy had seen them in that time frame.

He shook himself mentally, giving himself a stern reminder that he was a fully grown adult and he couldn’t just expect his friends to drop everything whenever he wanted to spend time with them. He should be grateful that they were spending the free time that they did have with him, and he was most of the time, but it still hurt a bit every time they turned down an invitation to go somewhere.

Harry agreed to meet the couple at a Muggle restaurant that they had all been to in the past. As soon as he Apparated nearby and walked up to it, he spotted Ron and Hermione. He strode over to them as quickly as possible, giving them both hugs and pressing a kiss to Hermione’s cheek. They were quickly led to a table in the center of the busy restaurant, and Harry discreetly cast a muffling charm. He caught Hermione’s curious glance and gave her a nod, hoping she wouldn’t press until he could figure out a good way to explain the situation. Of course, it was Hermione Granger so she immediately asked what was happening.

“Something is going on, isn’t it Harry?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “You never cast a muffling charm unless you need to tell us something.”

Merlin. He couldn't do this, couldn't face them and say that he needed someone who he'd refused to even become friends with to fall in love with him. 

“Well, erm,” Harry scratched at his neck as he cast around for something to say. “Were you lot planning on spending the evening with Malfoy? I didn't mean to ruin your plans, I shouldn't have asked.”

“Oh Harry, of course not- we're happy to see you! We just…” Hermione twirled her hair around her finger and wrinkled, a habit Harry knew meant she was trying to find a way to say something.

“Malfoy asked about you the other day, mate. He wanted to know if you'd be willing to try being friends. I know he was awful back at Hogwarts, but he really has changed, and honestly I think you'd like him now,” Ron cut in. Hermione shot him a grateful smile, and they both turned to Harry to hear his response.

Harry mulled it over, drinking a glass of wine from a bottle that Ron had ordered. It was a good opportunity to get to know Malfoy better and maybe start a relationship with him in a way that would make him fall in love, but Harry got a horrible feeling in his stomach at the idea of manipulating someone like that. It was interesting that Malfoy had asked about him right around when he got cursed, but maybe it meant that Nott had done the same thing to Malfoy? There were way too many questions that he knew he probably wouldn't have answers for anytime soon. 

“I’d like that, I think,” Harry said softly. He was rewarded with wide smiles from Ron and Hermione, and he felt guilty for not making more of an effort before to get along with their other friends. Ron and Hermione had made efforts to connect with some of the other people in their year right after the war, but Harry had had a hard time reaching out at first and by the time he was ready he felt like it was too late. He knew they understood, but he still felt like he should have done more.

“Are you free this weekend? Maybe Saturday night we should all go and get drinks together. I'm sure a bit of alcohol will make the conversation flow much more smoothly,” Ron said, attempting what Harry thought was supposed to be a subtle wink.

“Are you alright, Ronald? Have you got something in your eye?” Hermione asked. She exchanged a glance with Harry, her eyes glinting with amusement. Harry had to look away before he burst out laughing, but he could feel his lips twitching up at the corners.

“I'm alright, ‘Mione,” Ron muttered, looking rather put out. “ So, Harry? Does Saturday sound good?”

“I think so,” Harry replied, suddenly feeling nervous. It was stupid he knew, but there were rather a lot of things resting on how things went with Malfoy. He wouldn't want to disappoint his friends by starting a fight, and his magic might be dependent on if he could make things work with Malfoy.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, in a pleasant blur of conversation and good food. Harry was reminded of why he'd stayed such good friends with Ron and Hermione over the years. He waved goodbye to them at the end of the meal, and Apparated home once he was safely out of view from passing Muggles. Now he had the next 48 hours to do nothing but stress over the upcoming night of drinks with Malfoy.


End file.
